Self-loading and unloading trolley conveyer



1933- c. A. M KENNY SELF LOADING AND UNLOADING TROLLEY CONVEYER Filed May 15. 1930 INVENTOR Cbnrlssfi Makfsnny ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 15, 1933 I PATENT OFFICE SELF-LOADING AND UNLOADING TROLLEY CONVEYER Charles A. ,McKenny,'Detroit, Mich, assignor to The Joseph E. Barrett Company, Detroit, Mich., a Corporation of Michigan Application May 15, 1930. Serial No. 452,756

6 Claims. .(Cl. 214-60) The present invention pertains 'to a novel mechanism for automatically opening and closing suspended bucket type trolley conveyers. 4

The primary object of thepresent invention 5 is to devise a novel conveyer including an opening and closing mechanism for the buckets forrning a partthereof and thus provide a conveyer that is adapted for carrying various kinds of materials or parts from one department to another in industrial plants in order to complete an assembly. In this use the different materials and parts must be unloaded at various points in the assembly line and therefore-the present invention provides a mechanism on the bucket that is engaged by an arm attached to means having no connection with the bucket, said arm serving to engage the said mechanism to open the bottom of the same, one of such arms being positioned at each unloading point.

The unloading mechanisms and the projecting arms may be varied in their location and relative positions so that certain buckets may pass certain unloading points without the arms at these points opening the buckets. 7

With the above and other ends in view the invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being, had to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of the present conveyer loading and unloading mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a transverse cross sectional view illustrating the bucket coming into contact with the unloading mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a transverse cross sectional View taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1, andFig. ,4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating another position of the unloading mechanism.

Like characters of reference are employed throughout to designate the corresponding parts.

The numeral 1 indicates an endless supporting rail of the i-beam type along which the trolleys 2"are propelled by means of the chain 3. Supported by elongated links ri are the buckets 5,

the links 4 being pivotally mounted or connected on the trolleys. The buckets are substantially V-shaped in cross section and are provided with a hinged wall 6 upon which is mounted a cross shaft 7 for supporting a pair of rollers 8 so that they extend outwardly from the sides of the bucket. The rigid end wall 9 has a pivotally mounted cross shaft 10 upon which is rigidly mounted a hook member 11 which engages the pivoted wall 6 to hold the latter in a closed position. The shaft also has a lever 12 rigidly mounted thereon ior rocking the shaft 10 and withdrawing the hook 11 from engagement with the pivoted wall 6 in a manner which will become apparent as the description progresses.

Mounted upon the links 4 are bearing members 13 which are engaged by the spaced guide rails 14 which are located'adjacent a loading chute 15. The manner in'which these guide rails 14 are supported forms no essential part of the present invention and has been left off the drawing for the sake of clarity and in order that a clear understanding of the invention might readily be had. a I

The links 4. support an outwardly projectin arm 16 which serves as a cam to engage an operating lever 17 on the chute opening mechanism 18, the guide members 14 serving to hold the links a so that the arm or cam 16 will engage the lever 17 and to prevent swaying of the bucket 5 when the material strikes it from the chute.

It is understood that a great number of buckets 5 may be supported upon the rail 1 and by -posi tioning the chutes on different sides of the bucket or with the operating lever 17 at dinerent distances laterally or vertically from the bucket, different materials may be loaded in different buckets positioned at various points along the conveyer merely by changing the position of the cam like lever or arm 16 so that it operates only a certain chute.

From the foregoing description it becomes apparent that the conveyer buckets 5 may be loaded with any reasonable number of difierent kinds of material and itwill also become obvious that the different materials should be unloaded at different points along the conveyer. The present invention provides for this by supporting guide rails 19 adjacent the unloading point by any suitable super structure and these rails are engaged by buffers 20 that are mounted on the sides of the buckets 5 in order to tilt the buckets to the position illustratedin Fig. 1.

When the bucket 5 has its buffers 20 sliding along the guide rails 19 the lever 12 is engaged by an upwardly projecting arm 21 which is rigidly mounted upon a rigid cross member 22 supported'in the dipped rails 23. The location of the lever 12'on the shaft 10 and the location of the arm 21 maybe varied in order that certain buckets may be unloaded at any suitable point and at the same time have loaded buckets pass the same point without being unloaded. The manner in which the location of lever 12 and arm 21 may be varied will be understood by comparing their respective positions in Figs. 2 'and' l, it being apparent that the lever 12 'as arranged in Fig. 2 will pass the arm 21 as arranged in Fig. 4 or vice versa without unloading the bucket.

The unloading is accomplished when the arms 21, which are selectively arranged, engages the lever 12 on the selected bucket, causing the shaft 10 to rock and withdraw the hook 11 out of engagement with the hinged wall 6, permitting it to drop so that the rollers 8 rest on the rails 23. As the bucket is propelled along the dip in the rails 23 permit the hinged wall 6 to fall away from the wall 9 and the material which is in the bucket falls therefrom. The continued movement of the bucket causes the rollers to pass along the dipped portion of the rails 23 to the higher portion which causes the hinged wall 6 to be moved to its closed position and the hook 11 hangs in its natural or normal position resulting from the natural forces of gravity wherein it engages the wall 6 to hold it in its closed position again.

It becomes apparent, therefore, from the foregoing description that the present invention provides a trolley conveyer which automatically re ceives and deposits a various number of selected materials at selected points along the conveyer and although a specific embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described it is to be understood that various changes may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention, and such changes are contemplated.

What I claim is:

l. The combination with a trolley conveyer, of a plurality of buckets carried by said conveyer, each of said buckets having a hinged side, a pivoted hook mounted upon each of said buckets for holding said hinged wall in a closed position, a lever for operating said hook positioned at varying points transversely on said buckets, means supported adjacent the unloading point for operating the said lever on a selected bucket for releasing said hook, guide rails supported adjacent the unloading points for said buckets, and buffer plates carried by said buckets and engaging said guide rails to tilt said buckets to an angular position whereby said hinged wall falls away from the bucket'when said hook is released.

2. The combination with a trolley conveyer, of a plurality of buckets carried by said conveyer, each of said buckets having a hinged side, a

pivoted hook mounted upon each of said buckets for holding said hinged wall in a closed position, a lever for operating said hook positioned at varying points transversely on said buckets, means supported adjacent the unloading point for operating said lever on a selected bucke u for releasing said hook, guide railssupported adjacent the unloading points for said buckets, buffer plates carried by said buckets and engaging said guide rails to tilt said buckets to an angular position whereby said hinged wall falls away from the bucket when said hook is released, rollers carried by said hinged wallgand dipped rails engaged by said rollers when said hook is released and adapted to return said wall into engagement with said hook.

3. A conveyer including a chain and supporting means along which said chain is adapted to be propelled, elongated links pivotally attached to said chain at spaced intervals and depending therefrom, a bucket secured on the bottom of each link, each bucket comprising a rigid wall and a hinged wall arranged to form a V'-shaped cross section, releasable means carried by said rigid wall and engaging said pivoted'wall for holding the latter in a closed position, rollers mounted adjacent the lower end of said pivoted wall, a structure including a pair of dipped rails, a cross member joining said rails, a vertical projection carried by said cross member and adapted to be engaged by said releasable means to release said pivoted wall and permit said roller to engage said dipped rails.

4. A conveyer including a chain and supporting' means along which said chain is adapted to be propelled, elongated links pivotally attached to said chain at spaced intervals and depending therefrom, a bucket secured on the bottom of each link, each bucket comprising a rigid wall and a hinged wall arranged to form a V-shaped cross section, releasable means carried by said rigid wall and engaging said pivoted wall for holding the latter in a closed position, rollers mounted adjacent the lower end of said pivoted wall, a structure including a pair of dipped rails, a cross member joining said rails, a pair of spaced guide rails arranged above said dipped rails, and outwardly projecting flanges carried by said bucket and adapted to engage said guide rails in a manner to incline said bucket while said rollers contact with said. dipped rails. I

5. A conveyer including a supporting rail, trolleys mounted on said rail, a chain connected to said trolleys and adapted to be driven to propel said trolleys along said rail, elongated links suspended from said trolleys, buckets carried by said links and including a rigid wall and a pivoted wall, releasable means mounted on said rigid wall and engaging said pivoted Wall to hold the latter in a closed position, said releasable means on different buckets being arranged in different locations laterally relative to the center of said bucket, sets of dipped spaced rails located at different points beneath said conveyer rail, each set of spaced rails having a cross member, an upwardly projecting member carried by each cross member, the upwardly projecting member on different cross members being arranged in different positions laterally whereby they are engaged by certain of said releasable means to open said pivoted wall while others of said releasable means pass said projections as a result of their lateral spacing, and rollers carried by said pivoted wall and adapted to engage said dipped rails.

6. A conveyer including a supporting rail, trolleys mounted on said rail, a chain adapted to be driven to propel said trolleys along said rail, elongated links'suspended from said trolleys, buckets carried by said links and including a rigid wall and a pivoted wall, releasable means mounted on said rigid wall and engaging said pivoted wall to hold the latter in a closed position, said releasable means on diiferent buckets being arranged in different locations laterally relative to the center of said bucket, sets of dipped spaced rails located at different points beneath said conveyer rail, each set of spaced rails having a cross member, an upwardly projecting member carried by each cross member, the upwardly projecting member on different cross members being arranged in different positions laterally whereby they are engaged by certain of said releasable means to open said pivoted wall while other of said releasable means pass said projections as a result of their lateral spacing, sets of guide rails arranged. above said sets of dipped rails, and outwardly projecting members on said buckets adapted to engage said guide rails in a manner to tilt said buckets while said rollers engage said clipped rails.

CHARLES A. NICKENNY. 

